Cranking On The Backroads
by iCarlyfan312
Summary: The only way she can still be there: he drives her truck.


**A/N: Don't shoot! I'm so sorry about the two-month-not-posting thing. I hope you're not mad. Good news is that I have a new one-shot here for you. The next chapter of See You Again will be coming VERY soon.**

**Summary: The only way she can still be there. He drives her truck.**

**ENJOY!**

**Cranking On The Back Roads**

His eyes stayed on the long, traffic-filled road.

A low-fat Fat Cake wrapper sat on the floor, moving a little every now and then when the wind rushed in through the windows. The backseat held a red leather jacket with the right arm sleeve slightly hanging off. It was laying as if it had been thrown in there. A fork was in the glove box along with napkins. A single strand of blond hair sat, curled on the dashboard.

He continued going straight down the road, not knowing where he was going or when he'd turn around. The midnight blue truck stopped momentarily at a red stop sign.

He moved forward, and thought back to the last time he had been at that very stop sign.

_Sam was driving. They were headed to meet Carly at some new burger joint she claimed they 'had to try'. _

_She messed with the radio, turning off the pop station. When she came to a country station, she turned the volume up all the way and rolled her window down a little. A Lee Brice song was playing and she mouthed the words, 'I drive your truck, I roll every window down...'._

_Freddie studied her, "You're a cranker?!" She didn't hear him at first, so he repeated himself._

_"Cranker?!" She shouted back to him, never hearing the word before._

_"You crank the music up this loud all the time?" He said, almost yelling in the vibrating vehicle._

_"Only on the days that end in 'y'!" Freddie smiled at her comment. It was silent for a moment. Sam looked over at him and then turned it down a bit, "You know, you should lighten up. This music is good for you."_

_"Oh, really? How?" He crossed his arms and waited for her answer._

_"It makes you feel good. You would know that if you'd quit complaining. Just enjoy it!" Sam turned it back up full blast and continued to mouth the words. He stared at her with a smile as she drove on._

That station hadn't been changed since. Sam was right, Freddie realized the music was good for him and he rolled the window down further, hoping the wind would dry the tears coming down his face. The song that had been playing on the radio ended and another one started, _'Eighty nine cents in the ash tray, half-empty bottle of Gatorade rolling in the floorboard...'._

He let a stream of tears come down then. The lyrics continued to hit him like a ton of bricks. _'And you'd probably punch my arm right now if you saw this tear rollin' down on my face'._ When he had heard the lyrics to the song the first time, he didn't even listen to the lyrics. Who knew that he would be able to relate to it?

_"Why are you taking the back roads?" He asked her._

_"Because I like them. I hate driving the same way everyone else does. It's easier when there is less people," She put on her right turning signal and turned onto a sandy road. _

_"Why do you have to make everything so complicated?" His lips curled upward, amused by her explanation._

_"Why do you have to make everything so simple?" With that, they both smiled and continued down the curvy road._

Freddie put his right turning signal and turned onto a sandy road. He knew where he wanted to go now; he needed to see her.

He pulled into a patch of grass. She was not far over from where he parked. He knelt down and felt the engravings on the hard stone.

_SAM PUCKETT_

_1994-2013_

_Loving friend and daughter_

Sam had died in January. She went in her Mom's car to an appointment. On their way, they were crossing a newly-built bridge. It collapsed and Sam was in critical condition. Her mom managed to survive, but Sam wasn't so lucky.

After it happened, her mom gave him the truck. She said he ought to have a piece of her.

"Hey, Sam," He looked at the picture the was lying up against the stone, "I'm keeping the truck nice for you. You drive it better than I do. Carly got a new boyfriend, she likes him, but she thinks she'll dump him. She doesn't think her best friend would approve. She really misses you, and I do too. I love you, Sam. I wish I would've told you that before, when you were still with me."

He couldn't hold it in; he went and sat in the backseat of her truck and cried. He looked at the red leather jacket. There was something hanging out of the pocket.

A tape recorder.

Freddie, not knowing what to expect, pressed play:

_"Freddie, it's me. I'm in a hospital. My mom put this in my jacket in the truck which is probably where you are right now. I told her to give my truck to you if I didn't make it. From what the doctors tell me, I only have hours. So, I want to tell you something: I love you. I wish we would've had a second chance. Maybe we will on the other side. Take care of my truck. Take all the back roads and be a cranker. Do it for me. See you on the other side, and until then, my wish for you is to fall in love with someone that loves you as much as I do. Goodbye, Benson."_

Freddie smiled at her voice. He got in the driver's seat and headed towards home, but stopped by a music store on the way. He bought the Lee Brice album that had the song on the radio on it.

"You like Lee Brice?" The clerk said when Freddie brought it up.

"A friend of mine, she used to blast his music in her truck," He gave a slight grin.

"I wish my girlfriend was like that. She only listens to classical music and opera; quite some girl you got there."

"Yeah," He nodded, "she sure is...quite some girl."

Freddie headed back out to the truck. He put in the CD and turned it up full blast. Then, he went and rolled every window down. As he listen to the lyrics, he decided he'd take the back roads home.

**A/N: Please leave a review and thanks for taking time to read this :) **


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